Gingrich Warns Congress to Avoid Debt-Ceiling Fight

Congressional leaders should not get caught up in the media hype surrounding the fiscal cliff because “it is exactly the opposite of healthy self-government,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“If you’re a House member, and you thought you won an election, and you thought you came here to do something and you’re told, ‘Actually, your job is to sit around for two or three weeks while all the real work is done by three people in some room you’re not allowed in,’ ” Gingrich said. “I think that we’re seeing the same dance start over again.”

He said a fight over the debt ceiling should be avoided because it is too risky for the U.S. economy, the American people, and the Republican Party.

“Republicans ought to quit worrying about President Obama,” Gingrich said. “The president’s going to be president. The House ought to worry about being the House. Senate Republicans ought to worry about being Senate Republicans. Let the president deal with reality from their side.

“They don’t have to say we’re going to be wimps,” Gingrich continued. “I helped close the government twice. It actually worked. Bill Clinton came in and said the era of big government’s over after two closures. Not before.”

Congressional leaders should not get caught up in the media hype surrounding the fiscal cliff because “it is exactly the opposite of healthy self-government,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”